4 protesters arrested at Rainbow Ridge

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Four protesters stand under citizen’s arrest just before 5 a.m. Monday at Rainbow Ridge. The group was arrested by Lear Asset Management, a private security firm that was hired by Humboldt Redwood Company to ensure the protesters did not camp on the site or block equipment. (Contributed)

Four protesters were arrested at Rainbow Ridge early Monday morning for blocking access to the property.

Lost Coast League members Michael Evenson, Ellen Taylor, David Simpson and Jane Lapiner were placed under citizen’s arrest just before 5 a.m. by members of Lear Asset Management, a private security company that was retained by the owner of the property Humboldt Redwood Company, with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office on the way.

The grassroots organization has been protesting and blocking access to the company’s equipment since the company began logging Wednesday. Simpson, a member of the Lost Coast League and Mattole Salmon Group, told the Times-Standard on Friday that the area provides an important habitat that has just started to recover from the intense logging of old growth forests done between 1947 and 1988.

John Andersen, director of forest policy and registered professional forester with the Humboldt Redwood Company, said that the company has been working with the groups in the Mattole watershed area to address their concerns in its timber harvesting plans.

The protesters said the company’s plans to mitigate harm don’t go far enough.